Somebody To Love
by Shining Zephyr
Summary: *HoratioYelinaStetler* Ray, Jr. saw Rick Stetler hitting his mother. No one believes him. But when he gets hit on an entirely different level, only one begins to believe his tale of hurt...
1. He Saw Him Hitting His Mom

**_A/N:_ I would've had this possibly YelinaStetler, but that would be just wrong in its own right. And no one gets poor Ray Jr.'s side in the whole thing besides possibly "Hell Night." And these are in no particular order.**

**_DISCLAIMER:_ If I owned CSI: Miami, Stetler's head would be through a brick wall right now.

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He Saw Him Hitting His Mother

Raymond Caine, Jr. knew from the day he met Rick Stetler that he was a bad man. It didn't take a genius to figure this out, but Ray was a kid. Only seven or eight, maybe. Innocent, sweet, and everything in between. He didn't have a current father, one he didn't know was alive. Actually, he thought he was dead, considering the fact that he attended Raymond Caine's funeral. The flowers, the casket, and all the people crying.

Including his mom and Uncle Horatio.

This Stetler man wanted Ray to think of him as a new father, so to speak. That wasn't going to happen, though. He never did anything with Ray, constantly snapped at him to do things around the house, and always talked bad about his uncle under his breath.

Talking bad got a whole new meaning, though, one Tuesday night.

Ray was busy studying his Spelling words for a test the next day and thought he heard yelling coming from the downstairs living room. Sounded like his mom and Rick were having another argument. He was used to it but he still wanted to see what was happening this time. He shut his book and went to the top of the stairs, watching from the rafters.

Rick glared at Yelina. "Oh, my god, Yelina. What do I have to do to make you convince him that we're in love?"

She was in tears. "I don't know. He's always trying to convince me to go to Horatio's, and I keep bringing him over to make him happy. Why is that a problem?"

"He loves his uncle more than me," he growled. "Horatio isn't his father."

"And neither are you!" she screamed back. "Stop trying to convince him that you are! Maybe he'll learn, then."

Ray couldn't believe his ears. The two were arguing over _him._

The next thing he saw, he wanted to erase from his memory forever.

Rick brought his hand hard across Yelina's cheek. "Shut, up," he whispered in a deadly tone. "I will _not_ listen to you raise your voice at me like that. You will listen to me and not take him over to Horatio's house as long as I'm here. _Have I made myself clear?"_

She stared at him, tears in her eyes, her face swelling. "Yes," she murmured.

Ray crept back into his room and threw himself onto the bed. He planted his face into the covers and began sobbing hard. This man, this creature, was acting like they were just toys to be messed with. Rick had just hit his mother.

The thought of it made him shudder. He reached over for the phone and dialed in a number. A ringing was heard and a calm voice answered. "Caine."

"Uncle Horatio?" Ray's voice quavered.

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**_A/N:_ I love cliffhangers, but this is not going to go well for them. Review to help me go onward. Thanks!**


	2. Horatio Doesn't Even Believe Him

**_A/N:_ I feel so busy right now with my other stories and I am so sorry I am neglecting this. Probably not going to be more than 7 or 8 chapters, I think. It's not a pure HYS fic, with Ray and all getting a new confidant besides H…

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Horatio Doesn't Even Believe Him

Horatio Caine sat in his living room, flipping through channels on the TV, trying to find something good to watch. Something with nothing that had to do with abusive boyfriends or children being abused by his mom's 'boyfriend.' Not that he tried to deduce whether or not his nephew was being abused by someone. It was just a coincidence.

He had gotten home from work about half-an-hour ago. There was no way he was going to go over to Yelina Salas's house, especially with her so called boyfriend there to perk up the surroundings. Yelina never wanted her brother-in-law around when Rick Stetler was over at the house. She even refused to have Ray Jr. go and spend the night at his place. Something about 'Rick spending quality time with him.'

Ugh. He felt sick thinking about that.

His cell hone rang. He looked down and saw a familiar number. Adrenaline surged through his body before he picked up the phone. "Caine."

"Uncle Horatio?" a quavering voice on the pother end asked.

He blinked. "Ray?"

"I don't know if I was imagining it, but I think I saw Stetler hitting Mom."

The lieutenant rubbed his eyes and looked over at the clock on the wall next to the TV. It read 10:45 pm. "Ray, shouldn't you be in bed right now?"

"But I _saw_ him," he whined. "Stetler did hit my mom. They were arguing over me and the fact that…"

"Raymond," he interrupted, clearly indicating he was not in the mood for games at this hour. "Listen to me. You're tired from staying up late, and tomorrow is a school day for you, if I recall correctly. I want you to go to bed and forget about this, okay?" Not only was he in a bad mood about the whole thing, but he didn't feel like getting out of the house. Not at this hour.

Ray's lip trembled on the other end of the line. "You don't believe me?"

"Good night, Ray," an irritated voice replied.

_Click._

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

Ray put down the phone in shock. His Uncle Horatio, whom he thought was invincible, unstoppable, and all-powerful in every way, thought he was a liar. He didn't seem fazed when he told him that he saw Rick hitting Yelina. He thought it was a joke. It wasn't a joke! It was real life!

'It's not fair,' Ray thought to himself as he began to put on his pajamas, tears threatening to overcome him. 'Uncle H. should know that Stetler hit Mom. Just like he did before that big wave hit and Gramma and I had to go to that big hotel. Why doesn't he understand?!'

There was a knock at the door. Yelina poked her head in. "You ready for bed, dear?"

He nodded, tears now slowly beginning to fall. Yelina frowned and walked into the room. "What's wrong, Ray?"

"I saw Stetler hit you and Horatio won't believe me," he replied bitterly.

She winced at his name. "You mean you called him at this hour?"

He nodded. She sighed. "You know he's going through a… wait a minute, you saw me and Stetler together?"

He nodded again.

"Raymond!" she scolded. "There's no reason for you to be spying on me and your possible father! I will not allow you to do such a thing!"

Ray crawled under the bed sheets. "He's not my dad," he grumbled.

"No TV privileges for you this whole week," she told him. "And yes. That means Saturday and Sunday, too. You are not to be watching that from anywhere. And don't tell anyone about what you saw. Understand?"

"Yes," he mumbled back, tears over coming him as he slid closer under the bed.

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**_A/N:_ I know… it's sad. Review, please and thank you!**


	3. Hatred For All Of Them

**_A/N:_ Well, get out your rocks and other weapons, people. You're going to need them. WARNING: Child abuse in this chapter. You've been warned. Now go forth…

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Hatred For All Of Them

It was approximately five o'clock in the afternoon when Ray Jr. finally got home from baseball practice. Nothing seemed to be going right that day. He had only gotten a seventy-five on his spelling test, the school bully picked on him for having a 'special' uncle, and, of course, Stetler's car was parked in the driveway. He must not have left last night. Those only made him feel worse than possible. First Horatio not believing him, then his mom grounding him. His day probably couldn't get any worse.

Now that that's out of the way, you know I'm wrong.

It was about to get a hell of a lot worse.

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

Ray threw his backpack onto the bed and sighed. It had been a long day at school, and frankly, he just wanted to rest. No Stetler, no Horatio, no mom, no anything. Just time to soak up what had happened over the past twenty-four hours of his life. He still was upset that Horatio wouldn't believe him. He never lied to his uncle.

So why would that thought occur now?

There was a knock on his door. He groaned inwardly, but put on a happy face, to not release his true feelings. "Come in. It's open."

"I should hope so," a quiet voice answered. "It would be a shame if it was locked."

Stetler's ever-calm voice came through Ray like a cold shower. It was almost _too_ calm. He swallowed. "You can come in, Stet… Rick." The words left a horrible taste in his mouth, but as long as he didn't have to put up with this creep for dinner, it was all right for him to go in.

Stetler walked into the room, looking both tired and ticked off at the world. Something was on his mind. And Ray didn't like it the moment he entered the room. There was something in his eyes that frightened the poor child. Still, hide your emotions. That's what his uncle did. He smiled. "You okay, Rick?"

Stetler smiled dangerously. "Oh, I'm perfectly fine. You, on the other hand…"

Ray didn't even have time to react. A second after he opened his mouth, the IAB sergeant was immediately on top of him, pinning his wrists to the bed. His green eyes flashed. "You told him, didn't you? You sneaky little bastard, you told him, didn't you?"

Clearly, Ray was frightened by this. "Tell who what?"

Stetler let go of one wrist and punched him in the gut. He screamed in pain, crying, "Mom! Mom!"

"It's no use," Rick interrupted smoothly. "She's still at work." He hit him again, this time across the face.

"Rick, stop! Please!"

"Not after what happened today," he snarled, hitting him in the stomach. "He got on my case about you calling last night. You called him. _You called him, Raymond._ I will not accept that at all from a son. You will listen to me and your mother. I will marry her. I'll get her to love me." He punched him again. "You will _never_ go to Horatio's. You will _never_ see him again. And I will make you suffer."

But his time, poor Raymond Caine Jr. was just about in tears as a child could get. "_Will you just stop!?!"_ he finally screamed. "I'm in enough…"

"No." Rick began to hit his arms and legs repeatedly to emphasize his point. "I won't stop. You will not cause me more pain. Anymore."

And all Raymond could do was cry and cry and cry.

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**_A/N:_ I'm disgusted. Review, and get a free rock thrown at Stetler's head!**


	4. Ray's New Friend

**_A/N:_ That got a rather wonderful reaction. That brings me to… -throws ten rocks at Stetler- Much better. AND THANKS TO CELTIC KNOT for helping me solve my problem!

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Ray's New Friend

Ray, Jr. crawled out of the top window and jumped down into the bushes after Stetler left his room about an hour ago. His stomach felt like hell, and he felt as if he had been ripped to shreds by some cat or a creature with claws. He was bleeding at his arms and legs, and with Stetler's fingerprints and handprints all over him, he was literally a walking piece of evidence.

He was about five minutes away from the Miami-Dade Crime Lab. It was around seven o'clock that night, the skies now pink, yellow, and blue. Ray tried to look up at the sky, but his neck hurt. Instead, he walked to his one safe haven.

Maybe someone would understand…

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Ryan Wolfe finished examining the hairbrush of the male victim, wrote some data onto a piece of paper into a notebook and sighed. He put the brush back into a bag. "Hey, Calleigh?"

The blonde Southerner looked over at him. "Yeah?"

"You still up for dinner tonight?"

She smiled. "Yeah, of course. I'm not doing anything tonight. Same place?"

The elevator doors opened and a boy walked into the lab, catching the eyes of every worker there. He had scratched, blood, and looked ready to throw up at any minute. Ryan noticed him and gasped. "Calleigh, go get Alexx right now!"

The Southerner dropped all her things. "Is that Horatio's nephew?"

He nodded. "Hurry!"

Calleigh opened the door and rushed over to the Medical Examiner's Office, while Ryan looked over Ray and smiled. "Hi there."

Ray's tear-streaked face looked back at him. His gut feeling told him to trust this man, and he tried to smile. "You're not with Stetler, are you?"

The new CSI: immediately felt a pang of guilt and anger. "No. Frankly, I don't like him at all. Neither does anyone else here."

The boy ran over to him as only an abused child could. Can I trust you?"

He nodded. "Yes, you can. You know what? Let's have a seat." He led Ray over to a bench and sat him down. "What happened, buddy?"

Ray looked down. "Well, Rick Stetler is going out with my mom, Detective Yelina Salas. I saw him slap her, and I called Uncle Horatio. I told him what I saw, and he didn't believe me. Rick found out I called him, and he… he…" The boy couldn't finish. He finally threw up on the floor, stomach causing him agony.

Ryan bit his lip and didn't dare say a word of what was on his mind. It nearly tore him in two to see a seven-year-old boy in the shape he was in right now. And Rick Stetler, beating this child? It made him want to throw up, too. Nonetheless, he had to give comfort to him. And sadly enough, he believed the boy. "I believe you, Ray."

He looked up, his eyes red. "You do?"

Wolfe nodded. "Yeah. I know how it feels to have not one person believe you and your story. That happened to me once. You can trust me if you uncle won't."

Calleigh finally walked in, Alexx in tow. The examiner smiled. "Hi, Ray."

He smiled back slightly.

"Let's take a good look at those cuts and go see Horatio. I'll make sure he believes you." She gave him a wet cloth. You can wipe off some of the blood that's on your body."

He nodded. "Thank you, ma'am."

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Horatio finished signing the last bit of paperwork on another case and sighed. Yelina had gone home about half-an-hour ago to her 'sweetheart.' The lieutenant was feeling some pain in his head after remembering Raymond's frantic call. Why did he have the sick feeling that it was a mistake to ignore the call?

Calleigh knocked on the wall of his cubicle. "Anyone still here?"

"Yeah. What's up?"

"Your nephew," she replied bluntly, allowing Ryan to guide a disheveled Ray to Horatio.

He couldn't believe his forty-seven year old eyes. Ray was a sight to behold. He had scratches all over his body, blood on his shirt and shorts, and slight bruising between the time Stetler abused him and his arrival at the lab. The boy tried to smile at him. "Hi, Uncle Horatio."

Alexx glared at H. "I cannot believe you decided not to believe your nephew. Do you know what that… that _bastard_ did to him? I've got major scratching, bruising to the arms and legs, and severe swelling in the stomach area. And that's from an _external_ autopsy on someone who's alive."

There was a strange ringing in the lieutenant's ears. "Near-death experience?"

"Obviously," Ryan grumbled.

All because he wouldn't believe Ray, Jr.'s story. He looked at the boy and wondered what other pain he could have possibly caused to this poor kid. A parental instinct kicked in right then, and he rushed over and hugged Ray. "Could I ask you something?"

Ray let go of Wolfe's hand and looked at him. "What?"

"Could we go home to your mom's house? Right now?"

His eyes widened like a deer in the headlights. "I'm not going back there! He'll kill me!"

"No. I'm not going to let him touch you," Horatio whispered, mainly to himself. "I won't let him touch you ever again. Or Yelina. Never ever." He looked at him again, a strange glint in his eyes. "Let's go. I want to 'talk' with Rick, okay?"

Ray nodded. "Can I sit in the front?"

"Of course."

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After the two left for Yelina's house, Calleigh smiled. "_That_, my friends, is _true_ love."

Ryan smirked and pulled her into a hug. "And so is this."

Alexx simply laughed. "You two going out or what?"

Calleigh and Ryan grinned.

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**_A/N:_ Okay, fine. _Not_ a pure HY story. But I wanted a little fluff to get the mood up near the end. And I love CaRWash. –sheepish grin- Review, please and thank you! **


	5. Stay Away From Them

**_A/N:_ It has arrived. The moment where… Aw, you know! Last chapter. Boo-hiss. But I'm in the first stages of a sequel.

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**_DEDICATIONS:_ Extra rocks for throwing at Stetler (and many thanks to) for reviewing are Carrro, jzcprc, tinkbaby, Lady Sichi, Scorpii, Guardian.Ghost, The-Serious-Padfoot, speedfanatic05, Sarabear08, Funky In Fishnet, vipercharmed, CSIGUY, leo'1-susu, Lerrinus, relly252, tvshowaddict, and Mr. Harelip. You're awesome!

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"Stay Away From Them"

He grabbed her by the shirt collar, eyes filled with deep hatred and despise for the woman who stood right in front of him. She looked like a frightened child, eyes wide and seeming innocent like nothing ever happened. He gripped her collar even tighter and pulled her closely to his face. "_Where is he?_" he growled.

"I don't know," she cried. "I don't know where he went. You were supposed to keep watch over him."

Yelina could feel his warm breath on her face."Don't you dare give this bullshit about this, little Miss Innocent," he hissed. "You told him to go run to Uncle Horatio about me abusing you tw… time and time again. Is that right?"

She shook her head, tears falling. "No. No…"

He pinned her against the wall. "It's the truth, isn't it? _ISN'T IT, YOU SON OF A…" _

The door knocked. He let go of her. She quickly wiped away her tears and opened the door. Ray, Jr. stood on the front step, looking somewhat better than before. The bleeding had stopped and bruising was still there, but he had a look of terror on his face. "You… why are you here?"

"That's a very good question, Ray," a deep voice agreed, stepping out from behind the frightened boy. Horatio looked over at the 'couple' and stepped inside the house, Ray following him.

Stetler began to move towards the kid. "You little…"

He got as far as he could to Horatio's face before the lieutenant growled threateningly, "Get back, Rick."

"Make me," he replied simply and threw his fist right into Horatio's gut.

Yelina gasped in horror as he leaned over in pain at the force. Ray ran to her, who she took comfortingly into her arms. She stroked his hair as he began to have silent tears roll down his cheeks. "It's okay, Ray," she soothed softly. "It's okay."

Lightning flashed, and there was a clap of thunder in the distance as Horatio set his deep blue eyes on Stetler's hateful green ones. There was an electric charge between the two of them, seemingly making the atmosphere more dangerous than it already was. "You laid a finger on Ray," he whispered.

"Oh, boo-hoo," the other man replied, sneering. "What are you going to do about, Horatio?"

Horatio began to walk towards him. Stetler smirked. "I'm not afraid of you. What have I got to be afraid of?"

_WHAM! _

Stetler went flying into the couch and went completely head over heels. Horatio had landed a well-placed kick into the chest and glared at him. "You've got to be afraid of that, you sick bastard."

"Get him, Uncle H!" Ray cheered. Yelina smiled. Secretly, she was thinking the same thing, but that would be a disaster if _he_ found out. Nonetheless, she stroked her son's hair.

Rick jumped up and landed a swift kick to the chest back at Horatio, who went back into the door of the house. He grimaced and glared at Stetler. "There's a problem here between you and me," he told him.

Stetler smirked. "Oh, really? I'm just _dying _to know what it is."

"You don't care about Yelina or Ray," he replied in a terrible voice, bringing his fist up. Ray Jr. and Yelina held their breath, waiting. "All you care about is their money, their love for you, and your sadistic ways of being a no-good son of a bitch. _AND I WON'T TAKE THAT FOR A BOYFRIEND TO MY SISTER-IN-LAW BECAUSE I LOVE HER!" _

_WHAM! _

Horatio's fist connected with Stetler's nose and face as he sent the IAB agent right through the glass wall and onto the back porch, where the rain had finally started to fall. Yelina gasped, her eyes watering. Was he okay? What happened? Was that really Horatio's passion and love?

Horatio glared at the man, who groaned wearily. "What the hell was that?"

"Stay away from them," he merely stated before going to see if his family was okay.

He walked over to Ray, Jr., whose mouth was opened in astonishment. "Wow," he whispered.

Yelina nodded. "Did you… did you really mean what you said?"

"I did," he replied.

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

It was three days later before Horatio came back to Yelina's house again. Ray, Jr. answered the door, eyes widening. "Uncle H!"

"Hey, buddy," he smiled and pulled him into a hug. "How are you?"

He pointed to behind him. "Mom was just about to call you."

"Ray!" a voice called back, filled with embarrassment. She walked into the hall and smiled. "Horatio."

"Hey," he said quietly.

She looked down. "He really is a good man."

"So I've heard," he replied bitterly. He looked up at her again. "Listen, I'm always here, okay?"

"As what?" she asked, knowing where this was going. "Family?"

"No."

She looked up, seeing if she heard wrong. "What? Not as family?"

"No."

"Then as what, Horatio? Give me an answer to that."

"Just as somebody to love. Somebody to love, Yelina."

Ray, Jr. pulled him into a hug. "And as a daddy-uncle person. No matter what, you're always family."

It took a lot of strength to stop his tears from coming out of Horatio Caine's eyes. Because truer words were never said by an eight-year-old abused child named Raymond Caine, Junior.

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**_A/N:_ It's done. NOT! I'm thinking up a sequel. Is that okay? Review, please and thank you! **


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